Category Archives: 1963 Open Two-Seater – GW

This project is the restoration of a VERY SOLID 1963 monocoque shell and bonnet. Unlike most E-Types that enter our shop, this was a running, driving car. The current owner purchased this car as a decent, amateur restoration, and has enjoyed driving the car for the past 7 years. He recently decided it was time to have this car restored again – this time as a correct, 100-point E-Type.

The monocoque is EXCELLENT, with original floors and sills, and only needs a boot floor and some minor door repairs. The bonnet is rock-solid without a trace of rust, but has been hit hard and hammered out in the past, resulting in a car that presented itself immediately as “wrecked”, with a mis-shaped mouth. We will repair and reshape this bonnet until it is indistinguishable from the factory shape, requiring the absolute minimum amount of filler.

Last Fall, I needed a good way to transport a finished Series 2 bonnet out to Michigan. You can usually get away with a moderate amount of abuse getting them in here – considering the shape they are usually in … Continue reading →

The grand finale for this project was a small show in Columbia, MD. The other restorer and myself kiddingly joked about how cool it would be to scuff down the outer skin and show the car in bare steel for … Continue reading →

This very solid, original car is leaving here as good as new – with all of its original bonet panels rescued and reshaped! Next stop – an E-Type gathering – where it will be the star attraction in bare, polished … Continue reading →

If you’re working with a bonnet that has never been wrecked, and you are re-using all of the original pieces, assembly can be very straight-forward. Since that’s almost never true, get ready for an adventure! Throughout this process, we typically … Continue reading →

I always seem to save the center section until last – especially when I know it’s going to be tricky – and this one turned out to be even trickier than it looked… This car was badly damaged in a front-end … Continue reading →

The LH wing on this bonnet was in excellent condition – only a few small dents and dings to smooth. But rust had started to take hold in one of the side flanges above the wheel well (very common…), and … Continue reading →

We’ve done alot of underpanels lately, and the one on this bonnet was especially in need of attention. This underpanel was totally rust free, but unfortunately had suffered some pretty serious accident damage… It was a tough call to cut … Continue reading →

Early bonnets had their flanges spot-welded to the outer skin, but Jaguar soon switched to bonding these flanges with a strong adhesive. I assume that this not only simplified and sped up assembly, but also eliminated the need to excessive … Continue reading →

It’s time to get started on the bonnet. I like to do all of the inner panels first, because when I finish the work on the wings and center section, I’m usually anxious to start assembly, and this way – … Continue reading →

The boot (or trunk) floor is usually one of the first areas to go on an E-Type, so it’s no surprise that even though this car is one of the most solid shells I have seen in decades, the boot … Continue reading →

The floors on this car are ROCK solid, but the footwells have suffered heavily over the years from various bashing from underneath, and rough hammering back out from above. Since the sides of the footwells show prominently on a finished … Continue reading →

When I went to first look at this car, it was on a lift, and I picked up on this problem right away… A previous owner or shop had re-skinned the door, and they actually did a pretty good job. … Continue reading →

The first order of business was to pull the bonnet apart. This also gave me back some much-needed space – which is at a premuim until the new shop is completed! There weren’t any big surprises here – the underside … Continue reading →

I went to look at this E-Type in it’s current shop to give my opinion and an estimate on the project. The car was well stripped down when I arrived, and I was able to get a good view of … Continue reading →